Dog Woes

The big dog has gotten back into stealing food... and seriously nothing (well at least nothing dog-wise) makes me madder than walking in the door to her cowering and growling at me, knowing she got into something. Sure enough, there's ALWAYS a chewed up bag on the living room rug. In the past, once this has started, she goes on a spree of getting in trouble every day until I rudely nip it in the bud by mousetrapping everything. It usually only takes once or twice of setting a trap off and freaking her out to get her to stop for a year or more. This time, I brought on this rash of bad behavior. I accidently left a bag of groceries on the floor- they were mostly boxed groceries for vacation- but Maggie discovered it and ate through a box of graham crackers... and she's been on this food stealing binge ever since.

Last night I put my new loaf of bread on the counter, in a hard to reach spot, and put a mousetrap in front of it. Usually enough to scare her away. But instead I came home to a growling dog, a chewed up, empty bread bag on the living room floor... and once again had to reiterate that she may spend the REST OF HER LIFE IN A CAGE IF THIS KEEPS UP!! Gosh it makes me mad.

And tonight I recognized that I let it make me too mad and needed to reign in my own reaction. It was a loaf of bread. I knew the risk, even with the mousetrap. I will still win this fight, even after a setback. Maggie will stop stealing food. I can stop coming home dreading what I'm going to find. And life will go on. Deep breath, Reenie, deep breath.

And boy I wish I could say this was the only thing that has gotten me worked up lately...

Family History

I've always been a fan of old family photos and in the last few weeks I've been immersed in them. First digging through my own photos for Fiona's grad party photo board (gosh she's a cutie!) and now going through and scanning photos for my grandparent's 60th wedding anniversary slideshow. So awesome. Here's a few great ones of my mom as a kid. I love finding these gems.

Counting down the hours...

Well, the last two days have been good. More peaceful than I hoped for- thanks for your prayers!! I'm down to the wire. I have worked over 40 hours and haven't hit Friday yet... but I did bring home some work to do tonight... and then there's that conference call in the morning. And that's it. Done. Till a week from Monday. Yayay!

I got to spend last evening with my good friends in town for a wedding this weekend. Great to catch up. Great to snuggle those crazy munchkins. Great to just be with my people. :) Looking forward to another great day of that tomorrow (different people-- including my sister and her family in town!! yayayayay!) and then a week of that on vacation.

As overwhelmed as I can get in life, I am constantly amazed at the gift God has given me in friends and family. Each one of you is a constant sign of His great love and mercy in my life. Thank you.

And here's to the vacation countdown... just a few more hours...

2 days and counting...

This is it... the week before vacation... never a particularly peaceful time. And maybe even less so than usual because I don't know how on earth they are going to manage next week. On the one hand, that sounds conceited. But really it's just the reality, I am the hub. That's my job. It's what I do. So next week could get really interesting with no hub there keeping things spinning. I told my boss today (when he was panicking a little about next week) that next week they would all realize how much they miss me... or realize they don't need me at all. Either way, coming back will be interesting (and I won't dwell on that again until next Sunday night around 9 pm). In the meantime, I'm trying to get a lot done this week at work...

And things at home are busy too. All the usual stuff. Plus scanning photos for a slideshow for my grandparent's 60th wedding anniversary on Sunday. Plus dog sitting (though we love having Buck here). Plus house cleaning. Plus paying bills. Plus cleaning for a BBQ on Friday. Plus trying to see some good friends who will be in town this week. Plus anticipating my sister and her family coming in (hooray!!!) Plus laundry and packing for vacation. And buying dog food (don't forget the dog food whatever you do). Yeah, I'm working myself up to needing a vacation even more than usual (is that even possible?).

The launch to vacation will be intense:
Mon-Thursday - work like a crazy person to get stuff ready for me to leave.
Friday - I'm off work except conference call first thing (meaning my vacation technically begins at 10.30 am). Then mowing the lawn, hosting a BBQ (can't wait to see everyone).
Saturday - wedding for a family friend, help wrangle friend's toddlers at wedding and reception (yes, some of my favorite toddlers, so I'm definitely looking forward to some quality time!)
Sunday - pack the car in the morning, Mass in Monroe (mid day) and reception for my grandparent's 60th anniversary. Back to Saline for 2 softball games. Drive up north after the games end (around 9 pm). And finally vacation...

A whole week with my extended family... it's going to be awesome... Can't. Wait...

Tada!!

Tomato season has officially begun around here (okay so there have been four yellow pear tomatoes ripe so far...). Hooray!!

The cilantro is flowering and popping up everywhere. The lettuce is plentiful and hasn't scorched yet. Beans, peas, cucumbers, and peppers are all flowering and putting out little veggies. Loving the garden.

And in other news, they put my next door neighbor's house on the market. Keep in mind my huge veggie garden is in the side yard outside their carport. So I'm rather glad that I mulched, that the stella d'oro daylilies are so beautiful, and it's on the market now while the garden looks almost picturesque. Anyone know anyone in the market for a 3 bedroom ranch, with really awesome neighbors? Maybe you know a nice single man who should move in there...

Homegrown is the best

I made a salad using all my own lettuce this weekend and cilantro. Of course nothing else is ready yet, but the lettuce is ready for eating and it is delicious. Mmmm. And there was one tomato showing just a touch of color yesterday. My mouth is already watering. Tomato season. Mmmmm. Bring it on!!

Update on the house flies

It was hot and humid enough for even the miserly Favorite Aunt to turn on the AC. And of course that means closing all the windows and doors and keeping them closed. I pulled out the flyswatter and got a few of the ones lingering in the kitchen. The dogs ate a few. And amazingly, it is fly-free around here (proving the point that if you leave your doors closed, the flies can't come in... shocking, I know).

Hey, I never promised this would be interesting... it's called Stream of Consciousness for a reason :)

Tips for avoiding a good funk

After a rather funktastic week on all fronts, I was heading home on Tuesday (and it felt much later in the week than a Tuesday) and knew I was prime for a meltdown... I had an evening at home that I wanted to use productively, but knew that I would squander it staring into space in exhaustion, crying and/or feeling sorry for myself. So I picked up the phone and requested this sweet girl for the evening. I stopped at home just long enough to change, grab one dog, abandoning the other to howl the evening away in her loneliness, and headed out.

So instead of a funktastic evening, I had a fabulous evening with a girl I love. And boy is she ever funny :)

Me, telling her we were heading to walk by this big cow farm: "I'm so getting a cow when I grow up."

Lu: "Know what animal I like?"

Me:"What?"

Lu: "Penguins."

Me: "Oooh cool. And are you going to get a penguin when YOU grow up?"

Lu: "Don't be ridiculous. What would I do with a Penguin?"

A few minutes later, we were driving by the cow farm I was talking about,

Me: "Look cow!!"

Lu: "Look penguin!!"

Me: "Where???"

Lu: "just kidding." (she chuckles as I pretend to scan the farms). "Aunt Reenie, I didn't REALLY see a penguin, it was a joke."

Love it!

We walked my favorite 4 mile country road loop with Suzie, discussing all kinds of important things, and composing out loud a new best seller "Suzie the Strange." Can't give it all away here, but it is gripping! Naturally at the end of the walk, when Suzie was good and muddy from all the puddle plopping, another dog came out, so Suzie ended up wrapped around my legs covering me in her filth. Lucy couldn't stop laughing. Even when we stopped for ice cream and I went in public covered with mud, she pointed at my muddy legs, giggling the whole time and talking me into a large ice cream for such a small girl. Ah good times!!

Tractor envy